Tuesday 9 June 2015

Alanah's Birth Story

My latest birth story feature comes from Alanah, a new Kiwi blogger, who blogs over at New Zealand Mumma, she contacted me on Facebook offering to share her story but... she wasn't sure I would want to post it.

Alanah's birth story was a traumatic and heartbreaking experience and it's something that no woman should have to go through. 

However, my blog is all about honesty and I think it's important to share her story - remember every birthing experience is different.

This is her story...





1. What was your due date?

8th of August 2014


2. Were you early or overdue? Any predictions on your due date and whether they were accurate or not?

Well, my labour started on the 4th August, I went to the birthing centre on the 8th of August and had my son on the 9th of August, so you could say early/on time?


3. Where did you plan on birthing? I.e Hospital, Birthing Centre, Home etc


My plan was the birthing centre.


4. Did you have a birth plan? If so, tell us a bit about it.

I had a very strict birth plan. I was going to stay at home for as long as possible, then go to the birthing centre with my partner and my Mum. My plan was no pain relief other than gas and absolutely no c-section or epidural unless it was life or death. My partner would cut the cord after it stopped pulsating and I'd have skin to skin for at least the first hour of our sons life.


5. Did your birth go according to your birth plan? Give us a brief overview of your labor and birth.


No, not at all, to be honest I think it went the furthest from it that it possibly could have. I have quite a long birth story (5 and a half days worth actually) so i'll summarise as best as I can.

On Monday, the 4th of August, I started having contractions at work - I called my midwife and she said to keep an eye on them until they got closer together and stronger.

That didn't happen until Friday the 8th of August. At 10am I rung my partner and told him he needed to come home as I thought it was time. He made it home by about 10.30 and I rang our midwife who had just gotten home from a 24 hour birth, so we arranged to meet her back up at the birthing centre - our midwife lived an hour away and wanted to catch up sleep before coming in.

We headed off to the birthing centre around 1pm - once the contractions became pretty intense. I got checked once we were there and they found I was 6cm dilated, so we made the decision to stay at the birthing centre.

Fast forward to 11pm when my midwife told me it was time to push. At 6am there was still no sign of our baby and I was exhausted so we were transferred to the hospital for an assisted delivery with the possibility of a c-section.

After arriving at the hospital I was administered the epidural and taken to theatre and despite everything our healthy baby boy, Lucas, was delivered at 8.11am via emergency c section, weighing 7lbs12oz.  

However, that wasn't the end for me. After suffering a massive post-partem haemorrhage I was rushed to theatre where I received a 4.5L blood transfusion and then - to save my life, they gave me a hysterectomy.

After 2 days in HDU and 4 more days in hospital we took our little boy home.



6. How do you feel after the birth?


Happy that I have a healthy baby boy but still a little in shock as to how it actually went, and pretty guttered that I cant have any more babies naturally.


7. What are the top 5 items you packed in your hospital bag that you couldn't have done without or wish you had packed?

1. Phone charger
2. Camera
3. Different sized baby clothes...as newborn didn't seem to be the same in every shop.
4. Stretchy pants!!!!!!
5. Shampoo and conditioner



8. What's one piece of advice you could offer to any Mum preparing for child birth?


Have an idea of what you want but just remember it doesn't always go the way you want it. As long as you all make it home, thats all that matters!


9. Is there anything you would do differently next time?

If there was a next time, I'd probably be a little more open to plans changing.



Thank you so much for sharing you story Alanah, even though your birth didn't go to plan and turned out to be a quite traumatic and life altering experience - you have such a positive attitude, it's so refreshing!

Feel free to add this badge, below, to your blog.
A Kiwi Mumma

If you would like to share your birth story, you don't have to be a blogger, you can contact me at akiwimumma@gmail.com.

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